Rain, snowfall predicted in Himachal

Shimla, Feb 9 (IANS) : The hills of Himachal Pradesh might experience more rain and snowfall in the next three days, a weather official said here on Friday.

Most of the prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kalpa, Dalhousie and Manali are likely to have light to moderate spells of snowfall.

"There are chances of heavy rainfall and snowfall at some places in the state from February 10 to 12," meteorological office Director Manmohan Singh told IANS.

He said the western disturbances - storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - are likely to be active on two days from Sunday.

The Met department's forecast has brought cheer to the state's hospitality industry.

Shimla saw season's first snowfall on January 23, while Manali, the popular tourist resort in Kullu valley, about 250 km from Shimla, experienced mild spell of snow on that day.

"If there is snowfall, there would be a certain spike in the footfall of the tourists across the hill destinations," Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) General Manager Vijay Sharma told IANS.

Shimla recorded the minimum temperature at 2.1 degrees, whereas the maximum was 12.6 degrees.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus three degrees, while it was minus one degree in Manali and 7.4 degrees in Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives when in India.